Treat your feet
Here's how to repair damage from sun, sand
When summer first started, we couldn't get into sandals fast enough to show off our shiny new pedicure colors. Well, now it's August, and our feet are feeling the effects of summer after taking a beating from sand, boardwalks, poolside floors and flip-flops. Now it's time to figure out how to fix them.
The good news: It can be done with solid exfoliation and moisturizing. The even better news? It can either be done at home or in the spa/salon. Take your pick, depending on what you like best — they all work!
Once upon a time when we used to go into the spa, they'd actually use razors to exfoliate our calluses. That practice has since been thankfully banned, because they're unsafe, unsanitary and ultimately do more harm than good in making dry foot conditions worse.
The solutions may be less harsh these days, but they're still aggressive, just safely so. Heidi Rivera, who's been at GSpa at Foxwoods Resort & Casino since it opened, has seen it all: people coming in midsummer after hiking or walking around pools for months. “We use a serum on the calluses and leave it on to let it break them down,” she said. “Then I work the cuticles while that works its way into the skin, before going at it with a callus-smoothing hand-held wand that buffs. It's an extra boost for people who really need it, and all of it's a safe way to drastically reduce the amount of dead skin and leave a nice, smooth finish.” Nita Patel is an expert in the different kinds of files that are used depending on how callused people's feet are. She exfoliates with products like Peppermint June Jacobs and Peter Thomas Roth scrubs followed by a foot file, and sometimes an extra paraffin treatment to soften feet right up.
And where do you really get flip-flop feet if not the beach? It's tough to beat Chatham Bars Inn's Barefoot on the Beach treatment, which actually takes place at the scene of the crime: the sand dunes. It starts with a ginger and tea tree bamboo exfoliating polish and ends with a super-hydrating foot massage with extra-rich cream.
Or let's say you're hanging around at home toward the end of the summer, but still need some instant foot repair. In your own shower, reach for either the Clarisonic Pedi or the Emjoi Micro Pedi for men (guys need more exfoliation on their feet than ladies). Neither machine is quite as powerful as the tools used by licensed pros, but they work extremely well, and they sure beat sweating away the old school way — i.e., scrubbing back and forth with a pumice — any day.
For more intense hydration, Fiana Fedosik, a 29year pedi expert at Grettacole, says to soak your feet in sea or Epsom salts for five to 10 minutes to soften your skin, dry your feet with a towel, then add a teaspoon of coconut oil to any body lotion and coat the foot extremely well like a mask. Then wrap them up in plastic wrap and cover them with a warm towel or socks for 15 minutes. Unwrap, and your tootsies will feel soft and supple.